Improvement



7 Y UNITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM w.psT. JOHN, on PLEASANT MOUNT, MISSOURI.L

IMPROVEMENT IN CURRENT WATER-wl-IEELS.`

lSpecification forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,600, dated March 4, 1862.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. ST. JOHN, of Pleasant Mount, in the county of Miller and State of Missouri, have invented, made,

and applied to use a certain new and useful Improvement in Water-Wheels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, wherein- Figure l is a plan of said wheel, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Similar marks of reference denote the same parts.

The natureY of my said invention relates to a wheel Inoving horizontally and receiving motion from a current of water passing in one direction without the use of a dam, as in rivers and streams. I make use of two pairs of buckets set at right angles to each other, and acting in such a manner that the bucket ceasing to act partially turns the bucket of the. given pair into the water upstream, and the previously-active bucket returns upstream edgewise and above the surface of the water, the said buckets being set upon an adjustable hub in such a manner that they can be adapted to the rise and fall of water and be equally eective.

My wheel may be made in a portable form or built upon any Inill or other structure.

In the drawings, a is a frame of a triangular shape horizontally. The same is to be placed in the stream in such a manner that the water will run parallel to the base of the triangle, as indicated by the blue arrows, Fig. 1. Where the bank of the stream is sufficiently steep, the framed may be attached to said bank by a chain or cable at the end A, and the other end will swing around and rest against the bank, as at B.

c is a vertical axis for my water-wheel, provided with a circular block or hub f, thatcarries the parts of the wheel and can be raised or lowered according to the height of water, and to sustain the wheel at the desired height I make use of a chain o, passing from the hub f to the gear-wheel n, from which wheel fn, the power is to be taken in any desired or con- Venient manner.

g h and ik are two pairs of'buckets, stand ing at right angles to each other horizontally,

as seen in Fig. l, and the buckets of each other by the shaft or axis 4, extending through a vertical slot in the axis c, and the pair of buckets c' 7c are similarly connected by the shaft or axis 3, the one axis 3 being just above the axis 4, so that they can turn independently of each other.

On each of the buckets g 7L 'L' lo is an arm 5, that takes against a stop 6 on the hub f when the bucket hangs vertically, but which arm 5 is turned away from the said stop when the bucket to which it is attached lies horizontally. l) is a vertical deflecting-board, to throw the current of water more strongly upon the acting side of the wheel.

The operation is as follows: The buckets la and g are in action, as shown in Fig. 1, while t' and h stand horizontally. The current of water will therefore'revolve the wheel in the direction of the black arrow. bucket g approaches the side of the wheel downstream, it comes into line with the cur-Y rent and passing the same the water strikes on the other side, and there being no resistance turns the arm 5 away from the stop 6 and brings the other bucket h of its pair down into the water. The current taking the same throws it down vertically, its arm 5 taking its stop 6 and turning the bucket g entirely out of the water. Thus each bucket as it arrives at the downstream side of the wheel turns t-he other bucket of its pair into the water upon the upstream side of the wheel, and that in its turn raises the returning bucket clear of the water to move to the upstream side of the wheel. ment there is always at least one bucket in full action, while the returning buckets do not pass through the water, and the turning into the water of one bucket and the turning out of its fellow are simultaneous operations,

requiring but little power and not retarding the action of the wheel.

By applying the latch Z upon the block or As the v By this arrangehub f in such a manner as to take the arm 5 and prevent the same turning away from the stop 6 the wheel will be stopped, because the buckets g and 7c will both remain in the water and be active on both sides of the center c and balance eachother. The slotted lever 'm on the fulcrum 7 may be applied to throw this latch Z out as it comes around with the wheel. i

Having thus described my said invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-' Fitting the pairs of buckets g h and t' lo,

vwhen arranged at right angles upon the ad- 

